In the last video I broke down what managed IT costs — $100 to $250 per user, per month. Today: the other option every business owner considers. Hiring your own IT person. A good technician or engineer runs $60,000 to $160,000 a year fully loaded — and they’re only available eight hours a day.

The true cost of one IT hire

Salary is just the start. Add benefits, the tools and licensing they need, and the ongoing training it takes to stay on top of a career that changes every year. Then add turnover risk: anybody who’s very good is going to get sniped — they’re always being recruited. And when the turnover happens, you inherit every risk that comes with the knowledge they carried that never got written down or shared. What happens when they leave?

The single point of failure

One person means one point of failure. When they’re sick. When the midnight ransomware hits and shuts the business down. My favorite: when they win the lotto and just don’t need the job anymore. Or the classic — when they get hit by the bus. If your entire technology operation depends on one human being showing up, you’ve got a risk sitting in the middle of your business.

The knowledge problem

It is impossible for any one human being to stay on top of everything a modern IT system needs — it’s just too complicated now, and the damage a mistake can cause has gone up exponentially. The old model of “the one guy who knows everything” doesn’t scale — not with your business size, and not with the knowledge required.

At ACS, I know a lot. My lead engineer knows a lot. My technicians know a lot. The amount of knowledge in the company grows multiplied by the number of people in it. Your one hire has to know networking, security, the vast world of Microsoft products — and strategy. Can they help you make business decisions with your IT? That’s what you get from a managed IT provider that one person in the house can’t match.

When in-house actually makes sense — the honest answer

There are real advantages, and I’ll be straight about them. An in-house person builds deep, institutional knowledge of your specific environment. They can be dedicated to solving deep problems instead of being a generalist. If you’re willing to carry the risk, that’s genuinely valuable.

And once your business grows — somewhere in the 150 to 300 employee range, depending on the business — hiring a small internal team starts to make real sense. Just know the catch: now you need someone who can manage a team, and most IT people aren’t great managers. You’re usually a great manager or a great technician; it’s rarely both.

Co-managed IT: the third option

This is the one most business owners don’t know exists — and it often makes a lot of sense. You keep your in-house person: they’re there every day, in your business, they know your employees intimately, they’re in it for the long term. But they can’t keep up with everything, so you outsource pieces of the system.

Maybe security is too deep to stay on top of alone — we take that over. Maybe your person is really a programmer at heart and doesn’t love supporting users — we take the helpdesk, close the tickets, keep people productive, and they focus on what they’re great at.

I’ll be honest: you don’t do co-managed to save money. It’s a premium arrangement. But for businesses with deep knowledge needs, it’s highly effective — you get the institutional knowledge and the coverage, the security depth, and the bench.

Frequently asked questions

At what size does hiring in-house IT actually make sense?

Somewhere in the 150–300 employee range, depending on the kind of business. At that scale it starts making sense to hire a small internal team — though then you need someone who can manage a team, and most great technicians aren’t great managers (it usually goes one way or the other).

What is co-managed IT?

You keep an in-house IT person who’s in your business every day and knows your people intimately — but they can’t keep up with everything, so you outsource pieces of the system to a provider. Maybe security goes to the provider because it’s too deep to stay on top of alone; maybe user support and ticket-closing goes out while your person focuses on what they’re best at. It’s not a money-saver — it’s a premium arrangement — but it’s highly effective for businesses with deep institutional-knowledge needs.

Can we keep our IT person and add managed IT?

Yes. If you have somebody you really like but you know they can’t cover everything, that’s exactly what co-managed is for. We’ve very successfully helped companies with knowledgeable IT people close the gaps around them.

Do the math for your business

That’s how to look at the numbers: what one person really costs, what the risk is worth, and where managed or co-managed fits. If you’re in the 10-to-300 employee range, this is where we live — making things run better and protecting the business across Chicagoland, Northern Michigan, and Central Florida. Book a discovery call and we’ll run the numbers on your actual environment. And if you haven’t yet, start with what managed IT actually costs.